Format Discussion: 1:1, 3:4, 4:5, 2:3. Your preference

donaldejose

I like to crop an image to create the "look" which pleases me most regardless of the resulting ratio. However that causes problems when printing and framing since it requires custom cut mats and frames. Thus, more and more I am trying to train my eye to see compositions which stay with ratios which fit "standard" mats and frames: 4x6 (1.5 ratio or 2:3), 5x7 (1.4 ratio close to 3:4), 8x10 (1.25 ratio or 4:5), on up to 24x36 (1.5 ratio or 2:3). I am trying to use as many of my pixels as possible.

kyoshinikon

I personally would hate the 16x9 format it is not adding o your frame but cropping more off the top and bottom. Also imagine 16x9 Portraits. While a few would be cool it for the most part would look awful. I personally wish my cameras would shoot a full circle frame but that wouldn't be useful or practical in the real world as you would have to determine the crop. I rarely if ever crop anymore so I seem happy with my current frame.

dissent

Very interesting to read the opinions of you more experienced folk (pretty much everyone here, I think). I use lots of different aspect ratios; depends on whether I'm printing or not and the pixels I have available to work with.

Symphotic

I like to crop an image to create the "look" which pleases me most regardless of the resulting ratio. However that causes problems when printing and framing since it requires custom cut mats and frames. Thus, more and more I am trying to train my eye to see compositions which stay with ratios which fit "standard" mats and frames: 4x6 (1.5 ratio or 2:3), 5x7 (1.4 ratio close to 3:4), 8x10 (1.25 ratio or 4:5), on up to 24x36 (1.5 ratio or 2:3). I am trying to use as many of my pixels as possible.

I fully agree about trying to get the right look.

I usually print on paper much larger than my image, so the border serves as a mat, and I fit it into a standard frame. Even though I am using the same frame sizes, for the most part, I actually try to do different sizes and ratios of the actual printed area to keep the pictures on the wall more interesting. I've never been to an art museum where all the pictures were the same size and shape! At work I almost have to make everything squares, so although I stuck to the standard formats when I first got my printer, I've moved on to more and more squares and 11:10 (Shikishi), but I have an idea for a long, skinny print next.

Because I have a lot more pixels than I can print with my printer, I don't worry about throwing pixels away. I don't believe that even the best photographers know what their image will look like until after they start processing it, and a lot of times the "picture in the picture" tells the story better than what I originally framed.